Category Archives: Chocolate yeah!

Chocolate cake cure

18 Thursday May 2017

Posted by in Advice, Anxiety, Chocolate yeah!, Depression, Food for the soul, Illness, Life Lessons, Recipes

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My 13 year old son has an autoimmune illness and he deals with frequent anxiety.
It is a constant battle for him to deal with his issues and he swears that chocolate cupcakes still warm out of the oven are a cure-all for a bad day.

This is what he writes:
How chocolate cake makes everything better

When you are feeling down or depressed and you need something to make you feel better – eat chocolate cake.  Cold, warm, hot, all of them are delicious.  Every bit of soft, spongy, rich chocolatey taste gives you the sensation where the taste is so good that you enter your own space.  It is like the world of stress doesn’t exist and all of your problems and worries are gone.  Afterwards you can focus on your work, your mission, your goal.
Life lesson: Eat Chocolate Cake!

I can’t argue with him even if I am not the world’s greatest chocolate cake lover.  But just spending a few minutes calmly enjoying something that you love is going to make a big difference.  Particularly if you are becoming overwhelmed by stress and anxiety.  You are seriously not going to get anything done while you are panicking.
Rather watch your manager’s expression while you sip your tea and eat your snack as they stare you down expecting your deadline to be met yesterday (don’t tell them I said this…)

So here is my son’s favourite chocolate cake recipe.  It sounds crazy but that is because it is called a crazy cake but trust me on this.  It is a fast and easy way to make cake.  You can make it into one large cake (enough to share with everyone in the office) or make 24 cupcakes – freeze them all and take one out each day to pop into your lunch box….

3 cups flour
2 cups white sugar (stop right here if you are diabetic or a health food fanatic)
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½  cup cocoa powder

Mix all of these ingredients into a large bowl and then make three wells and add:
¾ cup sunflower oil
2 tablespoons vinegar (really!)
2 teaspoons vanilla essence or extract (or be daring and use a different flavouring – I’m quite partial to caramel)
Put each one into a well (don’t worry if they overflow or the wells collapse.  It works anyway)
Top the whole mix with 2 cups of water and mix well until there are no lumps (I do this in a mixer but you can do it by hand)
Pour into a prepared cake tin (or in a foil roasting tin that you can just throw away when the cake has been eaten) or into 24 cupcake cases (put them in muffin tins because the mixture is really runny)

Bake at 180 C for about 40 minutes for a cake and 25 minutes for cupcakes

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Quick fix stress management

05 Wednesday Aug 2015

Posted by in Advice, Chocolate yeah!, Projects

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I can talk a lot about changing your attitude towards life and dealing better with stress.  Yet, sometimes we just need a quick fix to deal with stress and anxiety.
I’m going to share some of these with you but know that there may be something that is specifically calming to you that may be irritating and absolutely not calming to somebody else.  Don’t be afraid to do your own version of stress management.
I know somebody (OK, I am married to somebody) who calms himself down by playing drums – which I find particularly irritating and very noisy but he finds calming and relaxing.

A really good idea is to make a box to keep some things in that you know will instantly calm you down.  And of course you can decorate that box to make it more special, but you can also just throw a few things into your desk drawer or your handbag too…

Lavender oil – smell it, put a drop on your wrist, a drop on your pillow to help you to sleep, a few drops in your bath before bedtime (you can thank me later)

Chamomile tea is super relaxing (and tastes horrible enough to make you think that it is medicinal).  A spoon of honey will make it taste better.

Chocolate (need I say anymore?) – especially dark 70% or more cocoa solids melting on your tongue

The Acupressure point for worry and anxiety is on your wrist crease on the side of your little finger.  Spend a few minutes massaging it while taking deep breaths

Having said that – take deep breaths.  Force the air out of your lungs from the diaphragm and then take huge breaths in and out

I learned some of the lovely art of Jin Shin Jyutsu (a Japanese art of self healing) this weekend.  Holding your index finger can be calming

Squeeze a stress ball (learn how to make one here: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Balloon-Stress-Ball )

Listen to calming music

Doodle – just grab some paper and start drawing.  And while you are at it, write a list of things that are good about your life

Get outside, walk, breathe in fresh air and please don’t look at your phone while you are doing this – interruptions are unnecessary!

Let me know what else you add to this list.

Can cheesecake make you happy?

12 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by in Chocolate yeah!, Creativity, Food for the soul, Recipes

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Can cheesecake actually make you happy?
I’m sure that if I looked hard enough and consulted Dr Google, I would find all kinds of scientific reasons why cheesecake could be good for you – things like boosting serotonin levels….
The simple answer to this question is:
Definitely! But (of course there has to be a but!) it is not just the eating of the cheesecake that can make you happy, there is a lot to say about making cheesecake.
There is the beating and crushing of the biscuits (by hand of course) to ease your frustrations of the day.
Blending those biscuit crumbs with warm butter and gently soothing it into a lovely, smooth base; the choreographed elegance of folding cream into cream cheese; and not forgetting the most important step – the licking of the spoon.

Last week was a Jewish holiday – Shavuos – where part of the custom is to eat dairy foods (read: cheesecake, and a lot of it) so when I usually write and post this blog, I was eating!
Stepping away from the mundane, stressful routine of life and just spending some time creating something beautiful can be one of the best ways of dealing with stress and giving your mind a chance just to calm down.
If baking is not your thing, then make sure that there is something that you can do to move away from the stressful and have something amazing and creative to show for it at the end.
This is your reward for all of the hard work, effort and exhaustion that goes into just living your life.
It can’t just be about trying to avoid stress and continually trying to cope with the all of the stressful work/family/financial/social situations.
It needs to be about letting yourself enjoy moments and to create those moments that are enjoyable.

So while I try to settle back into the hectic routine of actually working a full week, here is my recipe for a

Chocolate, chocolate, espresso cheesecake:

Base:
250g chocolate biscuits – crushed in which ever way you find best
160g butter (melted)

Combine the biscuit crumbs with the melted butter and press into a 20cm tin
Place into the fridge until firm

Cheesecake filling:
250g cream cheese
1 cup cream
3 eggs (beaten)
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons espresso (drink the rest of the espresso while making the cake)
1 slab of milk chocolate (about 180g) – or white chocolate, or dark chocolate, or a mixture (is it really fair to have to choose?)

Place all ingredients, except the chocolate into a bowl and beat until smooth
Pour this glorious mix over your base
Melt the chocolate and get creative by pouring it into the cheesecake mixture – I like to get a marble look but swirls, dots, or just random lumps of chocolate are good
Bake at 200°C for about 40 minutes until firm.
Let it cool completely and place in the fridge.

Glaze:
½ cup sweetened coffee (or coffee flavoured liqueur or chocolate liqueur)
250g dark chocolate
60g butter
½ cup cream

Place coffee or liqueur into a saucepan and simmer over a medium heat until mixture is reduced.
Add chocolate, butter and cream and continue stirring until it is melted and smooth
Remove from the heat and rest it until the mixture is cool and has thickened.
Pour all over your cheesecake and then return to the fridge to set.

Super anti-stress granola

01 Thursday May 2014

Posted by in Chocolate yeah!, Food for the soul, Recipes, Stress

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The amount of holidays that we have had in South Africa is starting to get ridiculous and I fear that when everything returns to normal, it is going to be difficult to deal with a full week of work, routine, driving the kids around, homework etc.
The perfect part about time off – even if I have to go into work – is the late start to the day and the leisurely breakfasts that come with that luxury.
My favourite breakfast?
Granola!
I don’t buy it, although I am sure that there are some wonderful brands out there, because I like to customise my granola according to my mood and therefore I make it myself.

I’ll share my recipe with you here – remember that granola is a very forgiving food (we could all learn from it actually) and you can’t actually go wrong if you change the amounts or add or subtract ingredients.

  • Melt together ½ cup honey with ½ cup peanut butter (unless you have a peanut allergy – then you can use any other nut butter or use more coconut oil to make up the difference – it still works either way) and 3 tablespoons of coconut oil (chocolate addicts, you can add 2 tablespoons, or more I guess, of chocolate spread)
  • Pour this mixture over 2 cups of raw, rolled/steel cut oats and about a cup of nuts of your choice
  • I also add pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and flax seeds to this mix
  • Mix together until well coated and spread on a baking tray and bake at 160°C
  • Please keep an eye on your granola while it is baking and take it out as soon as it is looking brown and toasty but before it gets too dark and yucky.
  • Leave it to cool and then go overboard adding your extras – throw on dried fruit, raisins, shredded coconut, goji berries – whatever you have or whatever you like (chocolate people – this is where you can add chocolate chips, chocolate covered peanuts, chocolate covered raisins – see where I am going?)
  • Pour everything into a container, mix it all up well and enjoy with yoghurt, milk or on its own.  I like to drizzle a little extra honey on top – it makes my day that little bit sweeter!
  • Enjoy!
Granola - two ways

Granola – two ways: tropical fruit, nut and coconut on the left and triple chocolate on the right

Because this is a stress blog, I feel responsible to tell you how amazing this granola is for helping you to help your body to manage your stress.
Here are some of the benefits of the ingredients in granola:

  • Oats apparently boost serotonin levels which make you feel calmer and happier.  It also keeps your blood sugar balanced which is important for keeping your mood balanced.
  • Nuts are known to lower cholesterol, reduce inflammation and counteract negative effects of stress – almonds in particular are rich in vitamin E (anti-inflammatory) and vitamin B (makes you more resilient to stress).  Walnuts will improve your memory (and I know that we could all use a little bit of that!)
  • Berries are rich in anti-oxidants and vitamin C which also helps your body to cope better with stress
  • Of course chocolate is full of all kind of good things but we know that eating chocolate improves your mood and is good for your heart (yes, really!)
  • Honey boosts your immune system, is anti-bacterial and probiotic – good for infections and digestive health.
  • Coconut oil is the ultimate superfood – if you believe all the hype around it, it cures everything! Including stress – I’ll take that!

Happy holidays!

24 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by in Chocolate yeah!, Recipes

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I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of my Christian readers a very happy Christmas and for those of you who do not celebrate Christmas, happy holidays!
Thanks for all of your wonderful feedback and comments and just for being there!
May 2014 be happy, healthy and successful.

Here’s my gift to you – a recipe for the holidays:

Double chocolate chip muffins (with a twist of course)

Heat oven to 180°C

Prepare a muffin tin with paper cases

 

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

¾ cup sugar (brown or white – it is your choice)

1 cup chocolate chips (white, dark, milk or mixed)

1 cup milk

90ml oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

  • Place flour, baking powder, cocoa, sugar and chocolate chips into a bowl
  • Mix together gently
  • Pour all liquid ingredients into a jug or a smaller bowl and mix together
  • Now, mix the wet and dry ingredients together – these are muffins, so you don’t want a smooth mixture (it should be lumpy – just like life I guess)
  • Spoon the mixture into the paper cases
  • Bake for about 20 minutes

 Now here’s the twist – design your own muffins!

  • Since it is Christmas – substitute chocolate chips for fruit mince and rum essence instead of vanilla extract
  • Breakfast muffins – use chopped dried fruit and nuts and leave out the cocoa powder (though that may be criminal)
  • Here’s a delicious variation (one of my favourites) – use coconut milk instead of milk, throw in some dessicated or shredded coconut and use glace cherries in place of chocolate chips – about ½ a cup will do well

happy days

 

The importance of pizza and other daily dilemmas

30 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in Advice, Chocolate yeah!, Freedom

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How important is it to eat pizza?  Or chocolate, or any of the other junk food that you are craving?
Well, that all depends on whether you’re looking for a physical, psychological or spiritual answer.
Generally if you crave foods, your body is telling you something.  If you want a really good biological explanation for the craving, you could say that your body is deficient in some “nutrient” and that is why you are having cravings.  So you want pizza because you need carbohydrates, needing chocolate means that you’re low on serotonin levels.  Chilli? You need endorphins to make you feel happy…. Sugar? You’re probably low on energy and your blood sugar levels may even be low.

I could probably go on but there is no need to.  Cravings are more likely to be psychological.  You want to eat something because it makes you feel better.  It fills the psychological hole of emptiness, despair, loneliness, frustration or anger and makes you feel better for that moment.  And yet, I have never met a person who craves lettuce when they are stressed.  (If you are that person, let me know). I actually do crave salad sometimes but it is not really the salad but rather the dressing and the fancy toppings (not the lettuce) that I want!

I prefer the “spiritual” reason.  I want pizza because it makes me happy.  I want pizza because.. I want pizza.  I want to eat with my hands and watch the cheese pull into strings off the tomato-ey base.  I want something that I didn’t cook.  I want an evening off with no cooking and cleaning duties.  I want to dream of Italy.  I want to be more passionate….

Is pizza, chocolate or any other junk food good for us? No!  Is it important to sometimes just do something purely for pleasure? Yes!  Definitely!
Life shouldn’t always have to be serious, or healthy.  We shouldn’t have to have valid, scientifically proven reasons for everything that we do.
My favourite quote about pizza is from the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.  It goes like this:
“I love my pizza so much, in fact, that I have come to believe in my delirium that my pizza might actually love me, in return. I am having a relationship with this pizza, almost an affair.”

Maybe we should all begin having an affair with life.  Loving and appreciating the things that we do, loving the blessings that we have in abundance but that we forget to notice because we take life too seriously.
Go out and (sorry Nike) just do it!

5 things to be grateful for (and don’t worry, chocolate is on the list!)

02 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in Attitude, Chocolate yeah!, Gratitude, Lists

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  1. Most of you reading this have at least 2 arms and 2 legs, some of you less and hopefully none of you more.  Everytime you take a step or reach out to hold somebody’s hand, be grateful that you can.  We never really appreciate anything that we have, that we take for granted everyday.  Nick Vujicic (who has no arms and no legs) is proof of how much you can achieve, and how you can truly be a survivor despite the odds against you.  Why do we have so much, yet we still feel sorry for ourselves?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4uG2kSdd-4
  2. Be grateful to have money in your pocket, or in your wallet, or lying at the bottom of your drawer, or if you are really lucky, in the crevice of your couch.  3 billion people live on less than $2.50 per day and 22000 children die everyday because of poverty.  Even if times are really tough and you are battling financially – you probably still have something to eat and dare I say it, you could probably afford a small treat (like the chocolate mentioned below) for yourself every now and then.
  3. On the simplest level, be grateful that you can read this.  There are 1 billion people in the world today who are illiterate.  People who never got the opportunity to learn to read because of poverty, war, gender inequality and poor resources.  We are blessed to be amongst those who can enjoy being able to read – whether it is a Jane Austen classic, the latest trashy novel, a newspaper, gossip magazine or even this blog!
  4. Be thankful for the people in your life who truly care about you.  The people that you can be honest with, who are there for you no matter what.  And hold those people close to you.  Let them know how important they are to you – and not just using social media!
  5. One thing that I am truly grateful for is that the Aztecs (although they incorrectly predicted the end of the world) did discover cocoa and the joy of chocolate (that gorgeous serotonin inducing, making you feel happy snack).  And even better – thanks to Christopher Columbus who may have discovered America (or so they say) but more importantly, took cocoa beans back to Spain where the genius king of the time, Charles V decided to add sugar to it… and that was the beginning of chocolate as we know it. Mmmm….

Winter blues and spicy hot chocolate

08 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by in Attitude, Chocolate yeah!, Food for the soul, Positivity, Recipes

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My mother asked me to say something about this, so I guess, this one is for you mom!

It started with somebody that my mom knows complaining about how she felt depressed in March.  I told her that it was common to be more depressed in March and she started to take note of everyone who felt more sad or more tired in March.  She then promptly told them not to worry because her daughter said that it was normal to feel that way at this time of the year!  And everyone was relieved and lived happily ever after…. not quite!

So, what is going on?  With the increase in sadness, not with my mother (because that is a whole other story).

There could be a few reasons why people feel more “down” in March and for people who have clinical depression, they may experience a dip in their moods or a full blown relapse.

Now I am in the Southern hemisphere, so the easy answer is that we are heading into winter. The days are shorter, there is less light and the heady days of summer (and the memories of summer vacation) are long over.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is real and some people do get more depressed or only get depressed with the change of season and with less exposure to light.

Another reason, in my opinion is that we have almost completed a quarter of the year (hard to believe isn’t it?).  Most people are quite optimistic at the start of the new year. Filled with ideas of changes that you are going to make, things that you are going to do, goals that you are going to achieve.  And then for most people, March or April rolls in and you are still doing the same things, stuck in the same place, nothing really new and exciting happening and the end of year is a long, long way to go still.

Is there a cure? Not really (I know, wrong answer!).  If you really do have Seasonal Affective Disorder, you can get light therapy which reportedly works very well.  Have a look what Mayo Clinic has to say about light therapy here.

If you have depression, it is something to just be aware of and try to do the best that you can to prevent a relapse – you may need to speak to your doctor about this.  Most importantly, you should do something about it before your symptoms get out of control.

For the rest of us, there is no reason why we need to allow our moods to control us.  We are heading for Easter holidays, so if you can, take the opportunity to get away or do something new and exciting in your city.

You don’t need to dress all dreary because the weather is colder.  Add some bright colours to your usual winter darks.  It was this little bit of inspiration that made me buy a pair of pink boots when I was shopping for black!

Bring flowers into your house.  Think of long nights with movies under the duvet and mugs of creamy hot chocolate.

Heat a cup of milk and ¼ cup of cream in a saucepan on a low temperature, add a few blocks of your favourite dark or milk chocolate and stir until melted.  Pour into a cup and top with cinnamon or chilli

Spice up your life by making your food more exciting.

You can do this!

(And for those of you in the Northern hemisphere who are looking forward to Spring and summer – enjoy! And file this away for later)

A new kind of list

24 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Attitude, Chocolate yeah!, Lists, Positivity, Relaxation

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I am always going on about lists.
Some people even call me the queen of lists.
But most of my lists are to do lists and bucket lists. Lists of things that I still want to achieve or things that need to be done ASAP or I have to face the consequences, which are usually sleepless nights thinking about how much I have to do.
Well, this week I decided to do a different kind of list. Not only a list of things that I have done but of all the things that I have learned this week when I opened my eyes (and my mind) wide enough to notice them.

So here is my list so far, and it is definitely a work in progress:

  • If Japanese tourists want to take a picture of you doing mundane tasks, like driving, just smile and wave.
  • People prefer chocolate cake recipes to advice on how to cope with stress. And some people love eating chocolate cake more than talking about their problems.  So obviously chocolate could just be the answer to a lot of the world’s problems!
  • What seems terrible one day, might not feel that bad the next day.
  • Reflexology fixes a lot of problems.
  • Not everyone sees the world the same way that you do and it is not worth getting upset about it. People will do what they want to do. And there is not a lot that you can do about it.
  • Getting enough sleep is important but it is not worth obsessing about it.
  • Talk to strangers, you never know what no ideas you can learn from them (yes, I know that your parents probably told you not to talk to strangers but hopefully you’re old enough to know the difference.)
  • Lavender oil fixes a lot of problems.
  • Sometimes the people who you think are meant to give you the most support don’t and the people that you least expect it from do. There is no perfect ideal for who should care the most for you.
  • Smile! It makes all the difference.

Now make your own list for this week.
Even better, buy or make your own lessons learned journal. It might end up being an amazing keepsake or something that you can pass down to the next generation.
Whatever happens, if you get into the habit of doing this exercise, you will start to see the world in a different light.
And you can make it a good one!

Killer cake

21 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in Chocolate yeah!, Food for the soul, HIV, Recipes

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The wonderful Sile told me about a Bar One cake and of course I had to come up with a recipe. Not only that, but I had to get a committed group of tasters (which is not that difficult to do actually). For those of you who are unfortunate enough not to know what a Bar One is, it is a nougat and caramel filled chocolate (I guess that Mars Bar is similar?).

This is a chocolate cake with a caramel fudge layer in the middle and topped with a Bar One topping – if you live in a Bar One-less country, please come up with your own topping (and let me know what you used).

baking 007

Well, bless Sile who has survived HIV for 10 years (and counting) but claims that this cake sent her straight to heaven – and I really don’t want to kill her, but this became the “killer cake”. And the woman is still crazy enough to want to sky dive with me!

Cake

  • 1 cup margarine
  • ½ cup cocoa
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 ¾ cups self raising flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • 200 ml milk
  • 5 ml caramel essence (vanilla if you don’t keep caramel on hand like I do)

Preheat oven to 180°C

Melt margarine and then add the cocoa and water and heat until warm, set aside.

Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a bowl

Add caramel essence, milk and flour to this

Now add the cocoa/margarine mix to this mixture and mix well

Pour into a prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes

Caramel fudge filling

  • 385g can of condensed milk
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 125g butter
  • ¼ cup  golden syrup
  • salt flakes

Put all the ingredients (except salt) into a saucepan and mix on a low heat until the butter and sugar have melted

Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn down to a simmer and stir continuously for about 15 minutes until the caramel is darker and thick (when it feels like the caramel is resisting your stirring) – I would suggest putting on some good music to keep you dancing and entertained during all the stirring because you cannot leave it alone

Add a bit of salt to taste (you can leave this out if you really don’t like the idea of salt in caramel – for me it is perfect)

Leave to cool

Topping

  • 150g Bar One (or Mars bar or some other caramel/fudge chocolate I guess)
  • 100g milk chocolate (I have to say this at this point, in South Africa, we don’t get 100g chocolate slabs – they stole 10g from us and now sell 90g slabs! – sorry, personal irritation)
  • 100ml cream

Melt all the ingredients together in a saucepan

Now, let’s put this baby together – once the cake is cool, cut it in half and spread the caramel layer on the bottom half and then top with the second half of cake.

Spread the topping over the cake.

baking 008

Now lick all the spoons and saucepans while you wait for the topping to set.

This cake takes time and love but it is so, so worth it and not that difficult to make with a bit of patience!